Pheidole indica Mayr, 1879

Sharaf, Mostafa R., Wetterer, James K., Mohamed, AbdulAziz M. A., Georgiadis, Christos, Nasser, Mohamed G. & Aldawood, Abdulrahman S., 2024, Filling gaps in global myrmecology: ants of the Kingdom of Bahrain (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), Journal of Natural History 58 (41 - 44), pp. 1705-1786 : 1754

Pheidole indica Mayr, 1879

( Figures 31 and 32 )

Pheidole indica Mayr, 1879, p. 679 (s.w.q.) India (West Bengal). Indomalaya.

Diagnosis

Major worker. Uniform dark brown, gaster black-brown; frontal carinae reaching back quarter of head in full-face view; cephalic surface with strong longitudinal rugae curved posteriorly to posterior corners of head; submedian hypostomal teeth small; median process reduced and shallow; promesonotal process well developed; metanotal groove feebly impressed; propodeal spines acute and directed upward in profile; postpetiole in dorsal view trapezoidal, with rounded corners, but in some individuals with acute lateral dents, postpetiole between distinctly wider than petiole in dorsal view.

Material examined

One site: 27.

Geographic range. This invasive species is known from all zoogeographical regions, spread by human commerce ( Wetterer 2011; Fischer and Fisher 2013), and established primarily in disturbed habitats ( Collingwood 1985).

Ecology and biology. Nests are built in open ground, irrigated public gardens, and lawns ( Martinez 1992), and nest entrances are marked by mounds of excavated soil. On the Arabian Peninsula nests are found under stones next to Acacia trees of the Asir Mountains. Workers are seed harvesters and predators ( Martinez 1992).

Figures

Figure 31. Pheidole indica. Major worker. (A) Body in profile. (B) Head in full-face view, ANTWEB1041900, AntWeb.org (Michele Esposito). (C) Distribution map.

Figure 32. Pheidole indica. Minor worker. (A) Body in profile. (B) Body in dorsal view. (C) Head in fullface view, ANTWEB1041897, AntWeb.org (Michele Esposito).